MVFN - Lanark County Biodiversity's Journal

Inspired by Owen Clarkin’s presentation, MVFN is launching a hunt for conifers. Owen has agreed to be the resident "expert" on iNaturalist to confirm any observations made in March.

We are lucky to have at least ten native conifer trees in Lanark. They are easy to find in the winter. So when you are out and about keep your eyes peeled and see if you can find all 10 conifers.

The species are: Eastern White Pine, Red Pine, Jack Pine, White Spruce, Black Spruce, Eastern Hemlock, Easter White Cedar, Tamarack, Balsam Fir and the common Juniper.

When you locate one of the conifers on the list take a few photos of the tree (also it’s needles, cones and bark) using your cell phone or a digital camera and upload it to our iNaturalist project. It will also be fun to see where the largest of each species is in the county. When you find one: measure the circumference of the trunk at chest height using a string or cloth measuring tape. Enter your measurement in the note field.

The tallest tree in Ontario is currently a white pine in Arnprior that is 47 meters (154 feet) tall. Can we find one that is close to this?

Good Luck and have fun!
.. Denis (denisag2)
for the MVFN iNaturalist project team

PS I've changed the filters on the MVFN Biodiversity project for the month of March to show only conifer trees. All your observations are still in the iNaturalist database, and will reappear in April.

Hi,
Here's an interesting Internet site (by Michael Henry) that may interest you on Ontario's old growth forest. The web site also highlights some of Ontario's oldest and biggest trees.

http://www.oldgrowth.ca/

Michael Henry is a forest ecologist who focuses on conservation of old growth forests, including threats from invasive species, development and logging. Michael has spent over two decades studying and working to conserve Ontario’s old-growth forests.

Also, here's a tree ID presentation from the Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF) organization for the trees of Ontario. The presentation is well organized and comprehensive.
https://www.eomf.on.ca/media/k2/attachments/Tree_Identification.pdf

Enjoy!
,, Denis (denisag2)